Yerbe maté is used in South America to make tea and soft drinks. Some believe it helps with weight loss. Is there any data? Read more…

Grapes, wine and resveratrol have received a lot of press, although wine to prevent heart attacks is old news. So, for a longer life, should you eat grapes, drink red wine, or buy resveratrol supplements at the health food store?

To answer this question, we need to backtrack a bit first. No one is sure whether it is the alcohol or the antioxidants in wine that protect our hearts. For a time, people believed it was the resveratrol in wine that accounted for the French Paradox: the paradox being that the French people eat a high-fat diet but don’t have high rates of heart disease.  But, not all wines are created equally: some have more resveratrol than others. Grape vines under stress (for example, when under attack by fungus) produce resveratrol. As such, wines from upstate New York have high levels of this antioxidant because of the cold, damp climate. Red wine has more resveratrol than white wine, because this antioxidant is found in the skin. Red wine is fermented with the skins, but white wine is not. But, whether red or white, from California or New York, there simply is not much resveratrol in wine.  So, should we buy resveratrol supplements at the health food store for a longer healthier, life? Read more…

Dark chocolate, with flavanols (the same anti-oxidant in red wine) has been in the news as being heart-healthy. But, how does it work. This study* showed that blood flow improved in diabetics given a cocoa beverage to drink three times a day.

The researchers used a test called “Brachial Artery Flow Mediated Dilation” to measure the health of the blood vessels in the participants. Abbreviated as BAFMD, it will come up again and again. It is easy to do, inexpensive, and it is a very good measure of how pliable your arteries are. Cells, which line the walls of your blood vessels, secrete substances that let your blood vessels know when it is time to dilate, for example, when you are running to catch the bus. A low BAFMD is bad. Increasing your BAFMD is good. People with decreased BAFMD are at high risk to develop heart attacks and strokes over time. People with diabetes, even if their blood sugar is controlled, have less ability to dilate. They have a lower, or impaired, BAFMD.

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